Gravitational Forces and Fields Quiz

The force of attraction between two objects with mass is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centers.

A universal physical constant (G) used in the law of universal gravitation.

Gravity affects everything with mass, everywhere in space.

Every object attracts every other object with a force.

The force of gravity always pulls objects together never pushes them apart.

The force per unit mass experienced by an object in a gravitational field.

Gravitational acceleration (g) decreases with increasing height above Earth`s surface.

Gravitational acceleration (g) decreases with increasing depth below Earth`s surface.

The strength of a gravitational field at a point is determined by the mass and distance of the source object.

Weight is the product of mass and gravitational acceleration.

The acceleration due to gravity on Earth's surface depends on Earth's mass and radius.

Describes the attractive force between any two masses in the universe.

A constant of proportionality in Newton's law of universal gravitation.

Field due to a uniform sphere at an external point; field strength is proportional to the mass, inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the mass center.

At an external point from the spherical shell, the field is equivalent to a point mass at the center.

Zero.

Scalar quantity that describes the amount of work needed to move a unit mass from infinity to a given point in space in a gravitational field.

Joules/kilogram (J/kg)

Scalar, negative for point masses, and independent of the path.

Always attractive

Work done by gravitational force does not depend on path.

The gravitational potential at a point outside a uniform solid sphere, given by the formula V(r) = -GM/r, where r is the distance from the sphere's center.

The gravitational potential at a point inside a uniform solid sphere, given by the formula V(r) = -GM/R(1 - r^2/3R^2).

Energy per unit mass associated with a gravitational field.

Region around a mass where any other mass experiences a force.

Potential decreases as distance increases, following a hyperbola graph.

Potential decreases at a parabolic rate; varies differently inside as distance changes.

The change in potential (dV) equals the negative of the field (E) multiplied by the change in distance (dr).

A constant that appears in the equations for gravity.